Life Cycles
by MadHattess
Summary: An origin story... and an epilogue of sorts.
1. Master Black Finds His Place

**Disclaimer**: The creative rights to Mai HiME have long belonged to the alien nation of Xzyrtic VII- otherwise known as Sunrise.

The great ship Ixqwan Tallon had a great mission. They all believed in the mission. They all believed in the ship (they had made all the modifications themselves). This turned out to be somewhat ironic…

Most doubts were actually centered around the personalities and methods of each crew member. They were united by the importance of the goal, not by any genuine fondness for each other. But the mission came first. They would find a world where their vast technological knowledge would amaze the natives so much that they would finally be able to get girlfriends.

Of course, being behind the cause didn't mean everyone was planning to play fair…

Vorwyk was not planning to play fair, especially not now that he had perfected his fantastic device. He'd started building the machine years before when he had been analyzing the same issue that had led to this voyage, albeit on a fully personal level. See, he had recognized the problem right off. Despite his parents' general ineptitude, he was blessed with great intelligence and natural charm (no matter what other people said). However he still** looked** like his unworthy parents and he was still named 'Vorwyk'. Sometimes he wondered if they'd wanted him to be miserable… Now that he was away from them, he was going to rename himself, something cool that would have chicks fighting over him, something like The Black Master… or something better, if he could think of it.

The name would solve one problem; the device would solve the other. It allowed him to convert himself into an energy-based entity. His intelligence, will, and charisma would be without his physical body to drag down the effect. In that form he could draw into a targeted body and take it over, then pull out of it again without repercussion. He'd tested it on Syeed (the perpetual drunk who was used to not being able to explain his actions). Data he had gathered from these tests implied that in his energy-based form, he could lapse into stasis which would allow him to live far beyond his natural lifespan. Actually, so long as everything went right, it would allow him to live forever.

Now all he needed was for them to find a world that wasn't tragically devoid of attractive women. It'd been so long since they'd passed a planet with any life though, that he was starting to think he might settle for just women. Any. Period.

Some of the others were excited about the planet they were currently heading for. It was situated so that it would support life. They actually had picked up readings which had some of the boys convinced that there had to be thriving cities. Those readings could also just mean that the planet was inhabited by huge beasts. It probably would be the latter, knowing their luck. _How boring_, he'd thought, then decided to kill time by playing with his machine. Maybe he'd leap from person to person and see if he could manipulate them into fighting with each other.

It was not, perhaps, his best idea. Oh, it had been loads of fun… at first, anyway. People had been yelling, waving their arms and fists, and generally carrying on. It had been glorious. But then he'd made that last shift. He was just propping his head up with his arm when he realized that his elbow was touching altogether the wrong button. Between the many waving arms, this was not a unique occurrence, and several of the wrong buttons and levers had been pushed and nudged. There was a moment of perfect silence as everyone realized that a crash landing was inevitable– a crash at very high speeds induced by a system that had been fun to make but hadn't been actually tested.

They were all brilliant, even if in Vorwyk's opinion they fell short of him. However, they had built-in safeguards and in the peace of shared doom they were working together magnificently. It made a difference too. When the ship crashed it was at far lower speed. None of them died even. The ship was trashed though.

Vorwyk had lashed out, hitting his fist against one of the control panels to vent his rage. In this way he inadvertently found the one part of the ship that still functioned. Their super-powered, over-clocked, uber-fancy, necessary-because-it's-so-cool main blaster was trapped between the land and twisted bits of the ship's outer hull in such a way that it pointed straight up and could not be moved from that position. It could, apparently, still fire though. The shot rocked the ship wreckage and disappeared beyond the sky.

That was when Vorwyk decided to join the others that were surveying the area outside. What he saw made him grimace. Massive signs of life. Massive life forms. Gigantic, stomping lizards that were about as sexy as a kick to the balls. Worse, it wasn't even one of the huge ones that had chased them back into what was left of their vessel. The thing was a fraction of the size of its larger cousins but that hadn't stopped it from **eating** Syeed (he'd been the slowest runner of them).

It was some days later– days mostly filled with cowering in their home, that a repaired scanner informed them about the meteor. Vorwyk had slipped off as the others discussed the suspicious burn pattern the rock sported. By the time they'd reasoned out that the shot he'd fired had knocked it off its course and now had it heading nearly directly toward them, he'd hidden and activated his machine. Well, they weren't going to get off this planet anyway, he'd mentally shrugged. Now, perhaps things would get interesting and he would be able to wait and see.

Much, much later, Vorwyk was coming out of stasis. He'd done this before and not seen anything worth staying awake for. This time was different. As far as he could tell, all of those horrible giant lizards were gone. Instead he found there were small groups of hairy bipeds who used simple tools and seemed to have simple speech. It wasn't much but this he could work with. With patience, things just might go his way after all.

Here, he thought, would begin the rise of The Black Master!

He frowned– he really did need to come up with a better name.

**Notes**: This was written for MU's The Carnival of MUses. It is very silly. Double beta reading love given by the renowned Crosswood and the inestimable Kyanobenthes. Any remaining errors are mine alone.


	2. A Day with the Fossils

Disclaimer: Though I suspect that Sunrise could only approve of me making up new main characters and putting the old ones in silly side spots- I still don't own Mai HiME

Notes: This was written for Mai Universe's "Ketchup Month" for the dinosaur prompt. Since today's the deadline I had George step in as an emergency editor. I may sneak in like a ninja to edit this when I hear back from Crossy (a very wise, worldly and busy lady indeed).

**A Day with the Fossils**

Kurauchi Hirohito hurried out of the car in order to open the door for the young woman accompanying him. This had been his idea, but he'd been wondering if it hadn't been a terrible one since he'd first thought of it. A little voice in his head shouted frantically that there was still time. He could just get back in the car and drive away. As his girlfriend exited the car and stood next to him he knew that there was not still time to get away. It had been too late since he'd mentioned the questionable idea to her.

"So, this is where your grandparents live?" She gestured forward, forcing him to take in the Fuuka Retirement Home. It wasn't a bad looking building. It was bright enough, there were plants around, the armed guards were subtle… It was just that all of these kinds of places ended up looking more like buildings you should work in rather than live in.

It was a strange situation. Hiro wasn't really sure how the setup came to be, but from what he'd worked out his grandparents and several of their friends had managed to exploit a loophole in some sort of contract. He could have sworn they'd said it was a scholarship, but how could a scholarship cover tuition and room at any Fuuka institution over the course of their entire lives? It was absurd.

"Yeah," he looked over at her. It wouldn't do any good but he had to say it. "Keiko… This could be really awkward. You don't have to do this. You don't have to prove anything to my family."

Keiko smirked at him, not buying it- just as he knew she wouldn't. "Of course I don't. And no, we're not going to skip meeting your family. If we're really going to try that 'growing old together' thing, I think I deserve to know just how well people in your family age." She poked him in the ribs. He grimaced though it didn't really hurt and she smiled. He liked her smile, much more than he did the poke to the ribs. This was particularly true when she was over enthusiastic, causing his grimaces to be more genuine.

Hirohito reached for his girlfriend's hand and held it lightly as they walked until they reached the double door entrance. He dropped her hand to open one of the doors and held it for her. Inside, they each kept to their personal bubbles. His ID was taken by a professionally bored looking woman at the reception desk near the entrance. Once she was satisfied that at least one of them was on their 'approved guest' list she finally spoke to them. "Everyone's in the rec room, down the right hand hallway." She nodded in dismissal to them before returning to whatever paperwork she'd been filling out before.

Before entering said rec room, Hiro took a moment. The trick would be to find his grandparents without making eye contact with anyone else. He'd never been that reluctant about introducing Keiko to them- his grandparents were great. It was their 'friends' in the home that freaked him out.

He actually almost made it. He remembered which chairs his family favored and he strode purposely, straight for them. He was standing in front of his Grandma Akane, ready to speak when Keiko's voice pulled his eyes involuntarily towards the danger zone.

"Whoa, that's got to be the world's least high speed chase."

Two old men, one with a walker and the other with a cane, were trailing behind an elderly woman who laughed merrily at every repeated 'Ah, come one, Mai' or 'please, listen, Tokiha-san.' Hiro stared in horror. He'd seen it before and it traumatized him every time. He sometimes suspected he'd been drawn to the… less endowed Keiko in part, subconsciously, by this woman who was a monument to the terrible effect that time and gravity inevitably had on large breasts.

He was brought back from his terror by the sound of his grandmother chuckling. "That Mai, still leading those boys around... Well, she did tell them years ago that she just didn't want to choose…" Akane shook her head. "It's so good to see you, Hiro-kun! What brings you out to see this bunch of dinosaurs?"

"Hi, Grandma," he leaned down to hug her before straightening and nodding to Kazuya, "Grandfather." Then he stepped back and put a hand at Keiko's back, "I wanted to introduce you to my girlfriend, Watanabe Keiko. Keiko, these are my grandparents, Kurauchi Kazuya and Akane."

"Oh! It's so good to meet you, Watanabe-san. She's lovely, Hiro-kun. Are you..?"

Kazuya's eyes sparkled as his wife chattered. When she trailed off he filled in, "Yes, does this visit mean that things are looking serious?"

"Ah," Hiro had this sinking feeling that he was blushing. Then, he almost laughed when a glance at Keiko revealed that she was not unaffected and was blushing a bit herself. The camaraderie of shared embarrassment gave him confidence. "We've been talking. Nothing's definite, but it's starting to look good." Hiro was grinning for all he was worth.

Akane's own smile turned even fonder. "When you smile like that you look just like your grandfather. He's still got it, you know, all his original teeth too!" Kazuya obediently demonstrated the shining smile that had served him very well with parents and bosses through the years. Akane turned back to the young couple and clasped her hands together, "You look wonderful together too. I'm going to show you off." She rose slowly and Hirohito felt his panic rise in time with her movement.

"Oh, we wouldn't want to bother anyone…" he tried.

"Take it like a man," Kazuya advised seriously.

"Exactly," agreed Akane, with something distinctly steely shining in her eyes. "I've listened to them talk up everything under the sun over the years. It's my turn now!"

Hirohito took a deep breath, preparing to follow his grandfather's advice. It's not like the crazy old women who lived here were evil or anything. He'd just… Well, he really liked Keiko and he didn't want to be embarrassed in front of her. Mentally stepping back, he forcefully made himself decide that after they did their worst here, if his girl still wanted to be with him it meant she really did love him. That in mind, he marched in step with the others as they headed for another set of inhabited chairs and couches, set around a chess table where two women were currently playing a game against each other.

"Heads up ladies, I've got bragging to do!" Akane called and there were a number of polite 'Oh?'s, a few smiles, one sly smirk, also the skinny, hawkish old lady on the couch was elbowed by the 'pleasantly plump', grandmotherly type beside her when she failed to react at all. He'd seen this before; it was the couple's code for 'turn up your hearing aid' (He'd been told the woman was deaf from long years spent around firearms- he hoped that she was a cop and to protect that hope he had never asked).

Everyone turned their attention on Akane and her entourage. The low speed skirt chase even paused as those three made their way over. Hiro had to admit that in their odd way, these crazy oldies did seem to support each other.

"Hirohito's come to visit and he's brought company- Isn't she lovely?"

There was barely time for a few vague agreement noises before his grandfather added, "They're getting married!" Hiro could only shoot his eyes over to Keiko and hope she only looked shocked and not horrified. He was relieved when she just rolled her eyes as if to say, 'Grandparents…'

"So," the green eyed, 'ex-nun' at the chess table spoke, effectively chilling Hiro's blood, "you come here for advice?"

"Ha!" It was the hawkish, (not quite) deaf (enough) lady this time. "If you need advice, Shizuru can tell you all about how not to use your tongue your first time."

"Natsuki!" came the scandalized shout from the woman next to her. Some thought there was a sense of poetry to the woman's discomfort. There was laughter, fond smiles, and more than a few rolled eyes- many individuals choosing more than one option. Hiro chose to join Shizuru in mortification. Actually, he was fairly certain that his version was more sincere. He looked over to Keiko to see how she was doing. She was blushing, prettily in his opinion, but didn't seem to be actually upset. That information allowed him to breathe more easily and relax as the old folks around him continued to trade barbs as they reminisced.

It struck him then that the people around him were filled with more life than any other group he had ever seen. They had nothing to prove to anyone and were just going to grab joy by the handful.

When it was time to leave (Keiko was expected at an early dinner with her parents, Hiro explained) Akane and Kazuya insisted on walking out with the couple. Nothing was really said until they were outside. Then, Akane turned to her grandson and spoke. "Love is priceless," she stated simply. "Life taught my friends and me some hard and terrifying lessons, but the most important were: to treasure joy and peace, to fight for the people you care about- even if you're scared, and that love is priceless."

Kazuya stepped forward here and put his hand on Hiro's shoulder. "You never know how much time you're going to get. Maybe you'll die young, or maybe you'll live longer than you'd ever imagined." His eyes sparkled and he smiled his famous smile when he added, "Just maybe both will happen." Akane laughed with him while the younger two just looked confused. "Alright, get going, you two. We need to get back inside with the air conditioning."

They waved to each other and started walking away. Before going inside Akane called two last things over her shoulder, "Make sure you visit again soon. And don't take any of Nao's 'advice'."

As Hiro and Keiko walked back to his car, she chuckled quietly while he remained silent. He was fretting just a little, reminding himself that she had seemed to enjoy herself, didn't seem to be upset at all. He was thoroughly over analyzing her every reaction when Keiko's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Your family and their friends are hilarious. I love them." She waited for his eyes to meet hers- which took almost no time at all. "I'm glad they're not boring and normal, and that they won't expect me to be the same." Her voice went from semi-serious to even more playful, "I'll be expecting that proposal. In your own time, of course."

Hiro pumped his arm in triumph, now fully glad they'd come. They'd have to come again- and remember to be careful of 'Aunty Nao's' advice.


End file.
